Ettrick tearooms, then and now

I mentioned in my last post that we always used to visit the little tea rooms at Ettrick when we went through to Central Otago. We stopped when it became quite rundown and we were pleasantly surprised when we stopped in on this trip through to buy fruit.

I have one or two photos that we've taken at different times and thought I 'd show you the contrast. I thought I had one or two more but alas, I can't find them.

Above is the front entrance as it used to be, some Kiwi's may recognise it from a tv ad a couple of years back, I think for ice cream, and below as it is now. 

It is much more modern looking with it's dark facade and the food is much more upmarket but you can still get a cup of tea or coffee with a sandwich or scone if that's what you prefer.

And above is the outside seating from previous days, unless you managed a table under a tree it wasn't very pleasant in the heat as  umbrellas were few and far between.

Below are pictures of the outside seating area as it is today. Much more pleasant with tables under trees as well as in a beautiful big gazebo with hanging baskets.

 This is where we sat. The only fault we could find was the tables were more  suited for larger groups and we felt one or two smaller ones would have been nice. We sat at a table that could probably have seated eight to ten people.

There's also a nice little play area for the smaller people

 where once there was just a slide and a swing.

The grounds are well maintained and there is a bird aviary down the back. My GKB said some of the birds were flying free but I didn't see any.

A couple of pics of the shrubs and trees in the outdoor area. 

Nice for a short stroll to the rest rooms :)

That is me for today. Just a little peek at our once more favourite stop on the way through to Central Otago.

Have a good week, Keep well.

Diana

Tea and tea

To answer some queries regarding tea, from this New Zealander's point of view - most, but not all, of my generation's ancestors came from Britain so we enjoy morning and afternoon tea (also known as smoko in the workplace). And supper, which is not tea or dinner.

Morning tea  is usually mid morning, a cup of tea (or coffee these days) and perhaps a plain biscuit. 

morning tea

Afternoon tea is slightly fancier in that we might have cake as well as a biscuit with our cup of tea, served on a nice plate. Or maybe it will be a scone or something similar. My mother in law was very disapproving of someone taking a fancy biscuit or cake to eat if they hadn't first had a plain one! Good manners also dictated that you only had two biscuits. I'm not sure we stick to that any more. Afternoon tea is about halfway between lunch and the evening meal, sometimes as late as 4 o'clock. 

afternoon tea

Tea is also our main meal in the evening, usually followed by a cup of tea. Some people are now calling this dinner but when I was growing up dinner was a hot meal in the middle of the day and the evening meal that day would be a light one, still called tea. Followed by a cup of tea of course :) 

tea, the evening meal

Then later in the evening we have supper, another cup of tea and a biscuit before heading off to bed. As someone said, New Zealanders have 6 meals a day if you count all the 'teas'.

supper

I hope all the different 'teas' haven't confused you, and I haven't even mentioned high tea or Devonshire tea yet. Maybe another day :)

And just for fun:

Seen in a tea rooms when I was on holiday a year ago.

Have a good refreshing week.

Diana

A day trip

Saturday last week was our 45th wedding

 anniversary and as it was going

 to be a nice day we decided to drive through

 to Roxburgh to buy some stone fruit from the orchards.

We stopped at Ettrick to have lunch

 at the tearooms we have been frequenting

 for several years whenever we go through.

 It had been getting rather shabby 

and run down so we had almost decided

 to find somewhere new.

But we're both pleased we didn't. 

It has changed hands and is now nice and

 bright, has a modern menu and the outside 

area has been done up as well. There is a

 children's play area, an aviary and plants for sale.

We spent a very pleasant half hour there.

Then we were off to explore the orchard 

roadside stalls. I love it when they invite you try 

the produce before you buy. I usually do, I love 

stone fruit. We went to several and came 

home with apricots and plums for all the family.

At one of the orchards when we pulled 

in to park we were confronted by this gal.

She looked like she was going to challenge

 us for being on her patch, haha. She was enjoying

 the shade and having a munch on some of

 the lower branches while she was at it.

All in all a good day out, we like to 

spend our anniversary together.

Until next time, 
Diana